The Letter (23 page)

“
What about Faith?” Eunice asked, apparently not satisfied with his answer.

“
Faith understands that I will have a mistress.”

“
But this should end before your wedding.”

“
I will decide when and how this will end mother,” William said, his voice cutting a firm edge.

“
Fine, I don’t object as long as it is discreet,” she conceded, as if her consent would matter to him one way or another. “Just don’t go falling in love with her.”

“
And I suppose if anyone finds out she is Victoria Riley, it doesn’t really matter. Her high and mighty New York family would be shocked to know their granddaughter had become a mistress to my son . . . a Worthington.” Eunice laughed. “Oh yes, this could be very interesting indeed.” She cackled, then added, “Maybe I could even find a way for the Harrington’s to find out. What a sweet revenge that would prove to be.”

“
Mother, absolutely not! Victoria does not deserve humiliation, goodness knows what I am doing is bad enough, even if it is necessary. No scheming or plots….besides, you would not want the Harringtons involved and possibly finding out about the shares. Harrington is no fool, he would be the first one to guess there is a reason I have selected his granddaughter…the only thing that is a mystery to me is why they have neglected their granddaughters all these years. I never took Harrington for that sort of man. Still, to bring such shame, he would most certainly call me out and well that he should.”

“
Don’t be ridiculous. It is obvious why the Harringtons have nothing to do with those girls, low-born Irish for a father!”

“
That is enough Mother. Now, I am on my way out, so if you have nothing else you wish to discuss with me, I need to get going.”

“
Of course, darling.” Eunice put her gloves back on grinning in a way that made William extremely uneasy.

“
No plotting mother,” William warned.

Eunice merely smiled and breezed out of the door.

CHAPTER
19

“
We are going to the Vineyards!” Victoria told Kim Su.

“
Big boss leaving work to play? Kim Su cannot believe this,” Kim Su replied, her dark eyes twinkling.

“
Indeed, I think it shall be a grand adventure.”

They giggled like schoolgirls while Victoria changed her clothing and Kim Su flew back and forth from the closet.

“
I will leave it to you to pick what I should take with me,” Victoria said to Kim Su as she pulled her travel bag from the closet.

“
I pick good things for you.”

Victoria paused and lovingly removed a piece of hey from Johnny’s wagon, still clinging to her bag, then shook her head against the melancholy.

The women barely had time to finish Victoria’s packing when William’s coach arrived in front of her house. Victoria completely forgot her manners and excitedly ran out the door to greet him. William stepped down from the coach and met her at the bottom of the steps. Chester moved past them with a nod and polite greeting then went into Victoria’s house to collect her bag.

William was casually dressed in a leather tan coat with a dark brown pair of pants, and filled them both out in ways that would even make an old woman blush. The snow-white shirt devoid of a cravat had the top button undone and did nothing to contain the dark, curling, hairs of his wide, muscular chest. Victoria blushed when she met his gaze.

“
Do I meet with your approval?” he asked, pulling her to him.

“
Yes, of course,” Victoria said breathlessly.

“
Well, you are looking at me as if I have grown a second head,” he said, laughter framing his glistening eyes.

“
It’s just that I have never seen you dressed like this,” she said avoiding her compulsion to stare at the tempting opening of his shirt.

William laughed, and said, “I am near as delicious to look at as you are my dear.”

Victoria’s heart fluttered and she looked away from his glowing eyes.

“
What made you decide to take me to the vineyards?” she asked, moving mentally from her reaction to his flattery.

“
I wanted to show you something that is very important to me. Did you pack for the country?”

“
I figured I wouldn’t be doing anything formal in the middle of a vineyard.” She smiled up into his glowing eyes, warm and giddy anticipation filling her.

“
Besides, I cannot take credit for the appropriate wardrobe because Kim Su packed for me.”

Chester had returned with her bag, had stowed it in the back of the coach and now stood a discreet distance from the couple on the other side of the carriage.

“
I hope she didn’t pack very much because you won’t need anything in the middle of the vineyard,” William answered in a low whisper. Then, he turned from her surprised expression and called out to Chester.

“
We ready, Chester?”

“
Yes, sir!” Chester smiled a toothy smile as he came around the coach and opened the door for them. William helped her up the step and followed close behind.

Mac, carrying a shotgun, joined Chester at the top of the coach.

With a gentle jolt the carriage pulled away from her house.

“
This is so exciting.” She exclaimed thinking aloud. “I cannot wait to tell Mandy.”

“
Maybe someday she can see the vineyards too,” he offered, chuckling at her enthusiasm; his eyes taking in her face.

“
Perhaps,” Victoria agreed, as a small whisper of sadness swept through her. Of course Mandy would never see this. It was unlikely Victoria herself would ever travel this road again, let alone Mandy.

But she couldn’t think of that right now. Right now she was going to live as if there was no tomorrow.

The city streets soon turned into country roads, and after a while it became difficult to tell where the road actually was. William’s well sprung sturdy coach softened the ride considerably when the road turned to little more than a worn path and became bumpy. Bouncing around in a luxurious coach was rather fun and sent Victoria to giggles when they hit particularly large ruts. William laughed with her catching her when she slid from the seat.

Crossing the bay required the coach to be loaded onto a large, flat surfaced ferry. William explained to Victoria that there was talk of a bridge being built to bring the city to the shore on the other side. William explained that it was a grand plan that was slowly taking shape.

“
And the horseless carriage is a new technology that has yet to begin to take shape. I am planning to purchase one myself when some of the problems have been worked out. This means, darling that someday people will be motoring across the bay on what is called a suspension bridge.”

“
How do you know all of this?” Victoria asked staring fascinated at the inlet where the ocean met the bay and this grand bridge was to be built.

“
Because my dear, I am an investor in this grand project, just as my father was before me,” he said, his gaze proudly scanning out over the bay where the bridge would someday span; as if he could already see it in his mind’s eye.

“
It is hard to believe such a thing is possible,” Victoria whispered.

“
That is what makes it such a fascinating challenge,” he said. “If it was easy to do, why bother?”

Victoria’s heart skipped a beat and she settled back into the seat of the coach to enjoy the view and swim in the wonder of such mammoth undertakings as a bridge that would span so far. No wonder William believed he ruled the world. It seemed nothing was out of his reach.

It was a calm day so the barge gently rocked as it steamed across the bay.

Once they reached the other side, the coach was carefully put to land again and they continued their bumpy journey.

The scenery was breathtaking and ever changing. There were rolling hills as far as she could see, some completely bare and brown, while others were punctuated with trees and shrubs.

In the distance were larger mountains, stunning and commanding, shimmering dark blue and purple, reaching up to the sky and contrasting with the soft, fluffy clouds that hovered around their rocky, ragged peaks.

As they traveled along through the valley, William captured Victoria in his dreams for his winery. The hours flew by as they talked.

Late in the evening they stopped to spend the night at a lodge that William kept for a halfway-point stop. “Serviceable” was the word he used to describe his “small” six bedroom, timber lodge.

“
It is a hunting lodge,” William explained to her as he helped her from the coach. Taking her arm, he led her into the lodge. “It is a bit rustic so I hope you don’t mind staying here.”

“
I can see how serviceable and rural it is,” she said wryly as she gazed around at the heavy, oak wood furnishings and large stone fireplace in the middle of the front room.

There was a stairway leading up to a second floor with a balcony that provided a grand view of the front room.

“
It is so rustic, in fact, I cannot imagine how you get by when you come out here,” she said, indicating the fine Persian rugs and luxurious tapestry of hunting scenes on one of the walls.

Oblivious to her sarcasm, William speculatively looked around. “Well, yes, it is not quite as comfortable as some of my other homes . . .”

Victoria giggled.

William paused and looked at her puzzled. Then he laughed.

“
Now you.” Sweeping her up into his arms he laughed as he swung her around a few times in the middle of the room, joining her in her laughter.

“
You are not convinced that I live rustically here?” William said as he set her gently to the floor again.

“
Most certainly not…you are extremely spoiled in the very least,” she replied, smiling at him.

“
I come here sometimes to get away from things and do a bit of hunting. But mostly, this is a stop off point on the way to the vineyards.”

“
Honestly, thinking of someone with so many houses befuddles my brain and you work such long hours besides. When do you ever have time to live in this many houses?”

“
Well, you shall find out since you will be with me,” he said, rubbing his hands up and down her arms.

Mac and Chester unpacked their bags and a basket of food and wine for them, before promptly disappearing to the stables and servants quarters above the barn, murmuring polite words of departure for the evening.

They shared a light dinner of cold chicken, cheese, fruit and wine from the basket. William would scarce let her even wash her face or unpack a few things before he joined her in the master bedroom where they spent the entire evening.

William did not stop loving her until late into the night, leaving Victoria to a deep exhausted sleep on the other side of the intoxicating evening, rather than pondering the power of emotions so intense they frightened her.

*****

The next morning, William woke her early with gentle kisses and teasing.

After a hurried wash and breakfast, they were on their way again, arriving at the vineyard late in the afternoon.

Victoria was awestruck by the scene of endless vines cast gold in the late evening sun.

“
I have never seen anything so beautiful,” she whispered as she poked her head out the window to get a better view and confirm that this paradise was real.

Victoria immediately understood why William loved this place.

Rows and rows of grapevines surrounded a large, white, stone mansion. There was an earthy scent and a mist floating on the warm air that gave the whole scene an unrealistic magic quality.

They started down a narrower road lined with tall oak trees. As they drew closer to the giant stone house at the end of the drive bathed in the evening sun, Victoria had a sense that the stunning house loomed over the vineyards watching over all of the precious grapes.

Above each of the larger windows glistened an intricate pane of stained glass in intricate designs composing an abstract story involving grapevines, goblets filled with wine, flowers and birds.

The double front doors had large stained glass windows complete with what Victoria recognized as the Worthington coat of arms, a sun, flowers and grapes.

William helped her from the carriage and they slowly ascended the stone steps and into the house in silence. Even lost in the wonder of his house, Victoria felt his eyes probing her as if it was imperative to him that she care for the house and the land as much as he did.

The inside of the house was decorated in a quaint but elegant country décor that lacked the glittering opulence of William’s San Francisco home but was equally beautiful.

There was a warm fire already burning in the giant, stone fireplace in the front room. The dancing flames reflected off of the polished wooden floors. The dark mahogany furnishings were large and gave the room cozy comfortable feeling. The draperies and furnishings were completed in contrasting paisley and checked prints of light blues, greens, and yellows contrasting with the dark wood floor and heavy furnishings. The effect was stunning.

Feeling his eyes upon her, Victoria smiled shyly into his relentless bold gaze.